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Welcome aboard, Bjorn & Michael.

 

Andy Quirt has excellent blades, Bjorn, so you picked a good starter - lots to study. Michael, whichever books you buy, please dig in so that you really understand the terms you'll run into (& there are many). When you can look at a sword & identify the terms you've read about, you'll know that you're ready to start searching for your first blade.

 

I also highly recommend NMB member Guido Schiller's http://www.nihontomessageboard.com/articles/Collecting.pdf to both of you.

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Hello, My name is Scott. Obviously I am new here.

 

I have always been interested in Japanese swords, I have watched many Videos, esp the one that was shot in modern times of a sword being made by the old methods.

 

I just bough a waki from Japan. Probably got ripped off, but it will be a wall hanger.

 

It is signed, but from what I read it maybe a WW2 sword.

 

off to post it in the translation section.

 

Scott

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Hi forumites,

Quick presentation of myself:

58 years presently serving as the mayor of our municipality. Else I have been working in the IT-industry and at the same time running my own business as a gemologist and gem cutter. I have been interested in Japanese blades since I was very young. Today the interest has shifted from pure martial to focus on the craft. As a gem cutter I really appreciate the craftsmanship of both the smith and the togishi. I bought a sword many years ago but as it turned out to be etched it promptly returned to the seller. Burned for a long time I just bought my second one (a wakizashi) and eagerly waiting for it to arrive from Japan. This place is a great resource and hope to stick around to learn for a long time.

 

Conny Forsberg

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Welcome, Conny. Yes, cutting gems is almost as painstaking as making a sword. I make jewelry for a hobby, but the thought of cutting the stones makes me shudder! I hope you will share some of your creations in the Izakaya section, as well as posting photos of the blade that's en route.

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Thanks guys!

There is a similarity in cutting and recutting Gems and to polish and repolish blades. You can never add what you have removed and part of the equation is to preserve material at the same time as the finished result needs to be as beautiful as possible.

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Hello all,

 

Been lurking and learning here for awhile and finally thought I should introduce myself. Greetings from northern Virginia! New to ninhonto, but acquired my first two over the past year, which much help from the NMB. Forgive my photography...

 

The katana is a NoshuJuUjinobu mei blade that passed the December shinsa as shinto era. Although AOI and my sori read thought late Muromachi, but I haven't found any good mei to compare to that matched so probably a fair call. Came with a kosharie but I have not had a chance to dig into the finer points of tosogu. Fun sword to start off with.

My nicer piece of the two is a Dewa Daijo Kunimichi mei long wakizashi from Danny. Certainly stands out when you get the right lighting on it.

Stand was made by a friend, his first attempt at something for a sword.

 

Thanks and look forward to seeing everyone on the boards.

 

 

Cheers,

Chris

 

 

 

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Welcome to the forum, Chris. A quick glance at the sugata of your katana makes me agree with the shinsa team that it's Shinto. How are you storing your blades? Leaving them bare on a kake leaves them opento rust, unless your air conditioning runs 24x7x366. Reston isn't known for its lack of humidity.

 

Nice start to your collection.

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Smart to store them that way...with a light coating of choji oil, right?

 

I enjoy hearing from new NMB members who have already dived into the Nihonto rabbit hole. I think that most of us have started off buying Shinto blades, because they're "showy," much more so than Koto blades, & they're usually less expensive, too. It took me several decades of studying before I finally realized that the beauty of Kamakura blades was far more than skin-deep.

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Hello all

 

The name is Danny, I am located in Hanover (Germany) and have been closely follwing the NMB for a couple of years by now, reading and learning constantly and making the odd purchase.

I was repeatedly encouraged to do the right thing and introduce myself properly, so here it goes.

 

I have been collecting European swords - mostly Napoelonic and early 19th century - for about 2 decades by now and am slowly (very slowly) getting my footing in the field nihonto. I look forward to learning much more.

 

Have a good day and best wishes

 

Danny

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Well, hello again. I joined back on July 9th, but it looks like the forum must have had a hiccup, as I can't find any posts started around that time. I wish I could remember my introduction from last time. I also got some great responses and information regarding books and reference material.

 

Anyway, I'm a big Japanese edged weapon fan from New Jersey, and hope to attend meetings at the New York Token-Kai. They haven't announced a meeting since Jun 30th, so I guess they are on break for the summer, when it's not deadly hot in Manhattan.

 

I hope to learn a lot and gain a much bigger appreciation of Nihonto. I also do have to deal with them sometimes for my job, so being able to use the right terminology to describe them is key. Thankfully any I deal with are 20th Century in Military Fittings, or already identified when we get them.

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I think Brian's server had a hiccup back around that time, David, & some posts were lost. But we're glad that you persevered & stuck with NMB. Welcome!

 

But I do have to ask how you need to deal with Nihonto on your job - a pawn shop?

 

I work doing customer service and website data entry and ad copy for International Military Antiques. So for the most part, I get a list of information about items, and have to post it to our website. Usually it's lots of antique guns, bayonets, U.S. and European edged weapons, and so forth. But, sometimes we get in some nice Japanese weapons, and I've always been a fan of those, and really want to learn more. The level of expertise required is however quite daunting, especially when compared to 19th century German Bayonets. The fact that experts in Nihonto can attribute a mumei blade based on characteristics alone is mind-boggling.

 

We did have some fun with trying to get pictures of Hamon, and found that actually using a scanner works well sometimes.

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Hi - the next NYTK meeting is set for September 22nd at noon according to the President of the club.  Check in to the web page in a few weeks to confirm as they sometimes have to make changes to the meeting date.  I hope to make it up there one day as it is a good group and is increasing in popularity under the new leadership. 

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